Gendered Differences in Elected Representatives at Different Levels of Government: Pyramid, Diamond, Pillar?

Abstract

Is there a connection between levels of government, supranational, national, state and local, and women’s representation in political parties and political office? While women constitute about 31% of elected representatives in the European Parliament, this proportion drops to 24% in the national parliaments of member countries. Yet in regional and local assemblies, there is considerably more variation in levels of representation. Taken together, the set of contributions that have compared the proportion of women elected across different levels of government to date has produced inconclusive evidence. Some find convincing support in favour of the hypothesis that women are more successful in municipal and regional elections than in national contests. An oft-cited reason is that traditional barriers for entry in politics are thought to be lower at the municipal level, hence making this level of government more accessible to women. Yet, comparative studies also find support for the opposite relationship, namely that women achieve more equal representation at the highest level of government. It seems that all other things being equal, the distribution of women’s representation across levels of government is highly country specific. But is this really the case? And do these conclusions also hold when comparing national and supranational institutions such as the European Union? Our panel aims at bringing together researchers that investigate the patterns of descriptive female representation at different levels of government, whether we can draw patterns of similarity across countries, and elaborate on causal rationales (cf. electoral rules, party recruitment practices, the use of quotas, and the diffusion of norms). We invite papers that take a comparative stance across levels of government, borders, or time. Qualitative as well as quantitative contributions are welcome.

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